INTRODUCTION to Say That This Book About Messianism Is Being

INTRODUCTION To say that this book about messianism is being published toward the end of the second millennium because something apocalyptic is expected by many to take place around the year 2000 would be stretching things too far. The fact that many messianic phenomena have "made the news" in recent years, or that fundamentalism, often tinged with messianism, is "in the air" as we approach the end of the millennium, is probably also a coincidence. But, even if on the sym bolic level, the conjuncture bears reflection. Take the case of Waco. In April 1993, United States government authorities ended a fifty-one-day standoff at Mt. Carmel, a religious center near Waco, Texas, that housed a millennial Christian sect called the Branch Davidians. During the final, violent assault, most members of the sect remaining in Mt. Carmel died in a flaming inferno, along with their leader, David Koresh. Ne Vernon Howell, Koresh had assumed a double messianic name~David, the future Messiah-King of Israel, and Koresh, Hebrew for Cyrus, king of ancient Persia and conqueror of Babylon, whom God (through his prophet Isaiah) had called his "annointed" (Hebrew: mashiah, whence the word "Messiah"). Koresh preached an apocalyptic message based on the "seven seals" of the Book of Revelation and on the Book of Daniel. His zealous messianic convictions and their biblical founda tions were grasped by several religious scholars, though they were not well understood by the beleaguered and suspicious FBI. The Branch Davidians of Waco died in the flames sincerely believing they were taking part in the apocalyptical End of Days. Or take the case of Habad. In 1994, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Rebbe of the Lubavitch (Habad) Hasidim, died following a stroke. For years, the Rebbe had hinted to his followers that he was the Messiah. That he died childless and without designating an heir in the dynastic manner of Hasidic sects seemed consistent with a mil lennial understanding of his life. As his death approached, prepara tions for a joyous redemption of the world reached a fever pitch among the majority of his adherents, who persisted in the belief that he was the Messiah. Now, several years after his death, pictures of 2 INTRODUCTION the Rebbe captioned "Moshiach (Messiah) Now" still spot roadsides, buildings, and automobiles. Messianism has been "in the air" in other parts of the world, too, during these final years of the second millennium. In Islam, radical movements around the world stress pure practice of the religion of the Qur'an, anti-government activism, and, especially in their Shiite variety, martyrdom in the battle against enemies as the prologue to a personal millennial reward. In Israel, extreme nationalists insist upon permanent control of Greater Israel, including the Temple site, as part of the messianic fulfillment of a biblical promise. So it does not seem ill-timed that in 1995-1996, a group of schol ars sitting in Princeton should have assembled to engage in the aca demic study of messianism. The inquiry centered in a yearlong seminar at the Institute for Advanced Study, supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The seminar was led by Peter Schafer, University Professor and Director of the lnstitut for Judaistik at the Freie Universitat Berlin and Andrew W. Mellon Visiting Professor (1994-1996) in the School of Historical Studies at the Institute for Advanced Study. Scholars from the Institute, Princeton University, and other universities in the United States, Europe, and Israel par ticipated. Biweekly meetings featured papers on a wide variety of related topics, including messianism in early, medieval and modern Jewish thought, messianism in the ancient pagan world, messianism in early, medieval, and early modem Christendom, messianism in Islam, and "secular" messianism. The seminar climaxed with a two day international symposium in March 1996. Faculty in Jewish Studies at Princeton University joined forces with the Institute Seminar to celebrate the inauguration of its own Program in Jewish Studies, es tablished through a gift from Ronald 0. Perelman. The intention of the symposium organizers was to have as broad a representation of topics as possible, particularly ones that had not been discussed in the biweekly seminar. This meant, also, inviting scholars who had not participated in the ongoing colloquy during the academic year. We were gratified by the response. The papers presented here, which include several that were read and discussed at the yearlong seminar, offer a varied and colorful mosaic of mes sianism in a variety of cultures, in history and in the contemporary world. Published on the eve of the close of the second millennium, we have entitled the book "Toward the Millennium." We offer it not only as the record of an academic seminar and conference, but .

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